of fear and finally the realization that the ghosts are a part of oneself (‘Poltergeist’), one's own ego, which has to be destroyed in order to overcome it all. You have said repeatedly that ‘Ghosts’ is the darkest and most personal record you have ever made. The lyrics are very dark indeed. How much of it is based on personal experiences? And how do you research the themes you want to write about? I have to set things straight. I did not say it is the darkest, I said it’s the darkest in a while and might be among our darkest records. But then again, which one is the darkest? I really don’t know. For some this one might be the darkest indeed. Yes, indeed there are some personal experiences which had some influence on some of the lyrics. But I will keep all that under the shroud so to speak. People can make up their own minds about the lyrics and go on their own journey. Inspiration can come from everything: a movie, something someone said, something I read in a newspaper, something I experienced, a book, everything. It is part of my job to go through this world with open eyes and an open mind to recognize inspiration when it shouts at me. And research? Well, like everyone else researches these days, I turn on the computer and go online. This way I will find out which books to read etc. ‘Majesty & Torment’ lasts for almost for 13 minutes. If I’m correct, that’s the longest song you have ever composed. It consists of several segments and also contains spoken word samples. Can you explain what the intention was of all these elements? Yes, it is a monster of a song and I’m very happy with that one. We call it the Opera for a reason. Actually, it is not our longest track.‘Down By The Sea’ from ‘Into The Arms Of Chaos’ from 2008 was a bit longer, 15 minutes I think. But the longest was ‘Permanent Illusions Part 1-3’. We divided that song into 3 separate tracks on the CD but it - 13 - is one song of more than 20 minutes. ‘Majesty & Torment’ really just happened and turned into the monster it is now. We started somewhere and ended up with this weird Opera. I can’t really describe how it happened though, it just grew and grew. Certainly, it took the longest to write and a lot of effort went into it. It is a journey into the Abyss and beyond. I really appreciate the artwork for ‘Ghosts’. It has a distinctive feel that fits perfectly with the music.What can you tell us about the artist who did the artwork and the way he worked on the sleeve and booklet? It is created by Billy Phobia, a graphic designer based in Madrid. He already did the last couple of album covers www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be
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